Ice

Hasn't snowed here in Berlin for a while, but the snow that was left over since the last fall has turned into ice. The footpaths are lined with thick lumpy blocks of ice, kind of like it would be if a 5 cm deep wave of water going through the streets, suddenly froze. It's not crunching snow, it's ice, like out of the freezer... Now everyone is slip-sliding along the streets. I've worked out that you have to walk in slow definite downward steps to make sure you don't slip. I imagine that if I was pick-pocketed, the chase that would ensue would consist of 2 people running in synchronised slow-motion tip-toes - a kind of moonwalk; two steps forward and one step back, kind of style.

It's so cold that I've wondered about that universal test by which we all measure TRUE coldness; that is, "It was so cold, that if you went outside and did a wee, it would..." a) hit the ground, and run away, as per normal, b) hit the ground, then turn to ice, c) turn to ice before it hit the ground, or d) freeze mid-air and turn to snow. Maybe C and D are the same? I think Germany right now sits somewhere between A and B, but I don't really want to try. Not reeaaaalllly, but I am interested.

On Saturday Berlin had a night where selected museums were open till 2am in the morning. The event begins at 4pm on a Saturday and you buy a ticket, then can go to as many museums as you like. Anna and I went out that evening and checked out a couple of museums of art and a Jewish memorial museum. They were all interesting, but the feet gave way after a while.

An incidental but noteworthy part of our tour was the Avalon Hotel, which is where Michael Jackson held his baby 'Blanket'(?) out the window. I took a photo of the building, but it's a little dark. I need the guys from C.S.I to come in and enhance the image, so that it looks just like a regular photo.

This is my name. I believe in German it means, "Ladies' Man", cos it's on all of the women's toilets here.

As you can see, I've begun taking low-resolution pics. Here in Europe - the fashion capital of the world - low-resolution is the new black. Everyone's doing it, and while you guys in New Zealand are probably thinking now: "That looks crap, I can hardly see anything", in a year or so you will begin to appreciate the full quality afforded by little pixels.